The Letters of Richard Cobden: Volume I

"The Letters of Richard Cobden (1804-65) aims in four printed volumes to provide the first critical edition of Cobden's letters, publishing the complete text in as near the original form as possible, accompanied by full scholarly apparatus, together with an introduction to each volume re-assessing Cobden's importance in their light.^ As a whole these volumes will make available a unique source of the understanding of British liberalism in its European and international contexts, throwing new light on issues such as the repeal of the Corn Laws, British radical movements, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, Anglo-French relations, and the American Civil War." "The second volume, drawing on over fifty archives worldwide, follows the career of Richard Cobden from that of the 'Manchester Manufacturer' who had gained celebrity status in the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 to that of the dominant Radical leader on the British political scene between 1848 and 1853, widely considered by contemporaries equal in importance to the leaders of the Whig and Conservative parties. Cobden in this period was concerned with an interconnected series of movements which sought in different ways to reduce